Underground utilities projectEric Ellisen, an engineer in Physical Plant, and his project team have received a distinguished achievement award from the Western Council of Construction Consumers for completion of a new, $9 million underground utilities replacement system on campus.

The project, one of seven awarded by the Western Council of Construction Consumers, was chosen for its unique approach to project development and ability to combine many different types of work in a single project. The underground utilities system was also honored for its ultimate impact on the delivery of utilities and communication services on the campus.

“This approach to utilities replacement on campus was so successful that we will use it as a model for future phases of this work,” Ellisen said. “The next project is scheduled to start in about 12 months.”

Lotfi ZadehThe Association for Computing Machinery has named Professor in the Graduate School Lotfi Zadeh this year’s recipient of the Newell Award.

The highest achievement award for contributions to artificial intelligence, the Newell Award is presented to an individual whose career contributions have breadth within computer science, or bridge computer science and other disciplines.

A professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer sciences, Zadeh is the father of fuzzy logic, a theoretical breakthrough that enabled much of the development of artificial intelligence and expert systems. He received his award at the association’s recent 2001 awards banquet in San Jose, Calif.

Alexander PinesCarnegie Mellon University will award its $50,000 Dickson Prize in Science to Alexander Pines, professor of chemistry, for his contributions to the field of nuclear magnetic resonance. The prize is awarded annually to individuals in the United States who make outstanding contributions to science.

Pines is the Glenn T. Seaborg Professor of Chemistry, a chancellor’s research professor, and a faculty senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley lab. His techniques are widely used in chemistry and materials science. His previous awards include the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award and the Bourke Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

As part of this award, Pines delivered the Dickson Prize in Science lecture April 11 at the Mellon Institute in Oakland. The prize also includes a medal.